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For the children and the flowers Are my sisters and my brothers Their laughter and their loveliness Can clear a cloudy day Like the music of the mountains And the colors of the rainbow They're a promise for the future And a blessing for today Excerpt from Rhymes and Reasons, John Denver
June est arrivé! The month of weddings and graduations is upon us! Not to be outdone by area elementary, middle and high schools, or the most eminent of universities, the students of CHMH are busy preparing for their 2008 graduation ceremony. Our bittersweet moment is approaching when we will bid farewell to beloved friends and families, and mark the rights of passage of all of our students as they move forward into another year of growth and learning.
We have been witness this year to the ‘Montessori metamorphosis' of the students in our program. Our students of June 2008 are very different to the newly coalescing community of the fall of 2007. It just seems like yesterday, on crisp September mornings, when the teachers were guiding uncertain little bodies into the classroom. The steps that cross our threshold now are confident and sure, and the teacher's hands are no longer sought. Evidence indeed that the prepared environment, in concert with the Montessori philosophy, has once again worked it's magic. This spring our little community embraced two new members offering them guidance and friendship. While the teachers played their part in the powerful chemistry of the Montessori ‘triangle' of “ CHILD, ENVIRONMENT, TEACHER ”, our most important task was to ‘stand back, allow the children to navigate their transformative journey and to have faith in their wisdom to self direct their developmental odyssey.
The full cycle of our year together is coming to a close. It has been such a privilege to watch your children grow and to be privy to their thoughts, imagination, innocent wonder and appreciation of the natural world around them. These little souls who began the year restlessly bouncing from one work to another, have found that precious commodity ‘concentration' which allows them to deeply explore a work and in which state profound and lasting learning occurs. We watch children working out their conflicts, gaining control of their emotions, learning to share, to reach out to help a friend, to show empathy for each other and the living creatures with whom they share Mother Earth. We get out of the way as they confidently fix their snacks, clean up after themselves, care for their bodies with dressing and toileting with a happy and healthy sense of control and pride in their independence. We watch older ones become teachers and help the younger ones with zippers, snaps, shoe lace tying, counting, reading and problem solving - a special benefit of a multi-age classroom. We celebrate and smile at all their many accomplishments!
Thank you to the PARENTS for supporting this philosophy and for standing outside on so many cold mornings while your children learned to do things for themselves! The results of this journey will be on delightful display during our Graduation September/June Self Portraits. So much growth and development has occurred in so many areas of the children's lives, and these steps and milestones are reflected beautifully in these precious masterpieces.
Before celebrating our graduation, however, we were determined to honor the fathers in our community. We realize that our Mother's Day Tea is very valued tradition, where our hat bedecked Moms are spoiled and cosseted during an elegant event which is the capstone of the grace and courtesy curriculum. The children however, are equal opportunity entertainers, and so we were all delighted to host our second annual Father's Day Luncheon. What the event may have lacked in formality, it more than made up for in frolicking and jocularity! What a joy it was to have all of the fathers for the duration of a whole RECESS, and to offer them a delicious lunch of pizza, strawberry cream jelly roll, and fresh lemonade! The Dads looked extremely ‘dapper' in the custom designed t-shirts created by the CHMH House of Fashion Design, and gamely tried to keep up with the children's “Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds” (the French version of Head, shoulders, knees and toes! From the Art Department : The end of the school year is upon us and nature is in full color bloom, inspiring and stimulating imaginations with pictures of flowers, forests, sunshine and life. We've covered bits and pieces of many subjects and mediums from line drawings and form to color theory, printing and sculpture. Although the children will most likely encounter these mediums again in their school years, I feel the most consistent concepts reinforced this year were the foundations of artistic expression. The preparation and the process of creating art starts with mindfulness. The vision begins within their minds and through practice and focus this vision manifests in the body and out through the hands. It is truly a magical process to bring their imagination into reality for other to share. It is the deep appreciation of this process that I hoped to pass on to the children this year. I know that with the support of Ailish and Karen the children have been eagerly anticipating our lessons each week and have thoroughly enjoyed their lesson experiences. I want to thank all the parents and children for allowing me to share these special moments. It's a gift for me to help foster these fledgling artists and witness their blooming aesthetic abilities throughout the year. Best wishes to all. Much Love Ailish, Karen and Marianne.
Thank you Merci Thank you Merci Thank you Merci Thank you Merci
To all of you for being such wonderful parents, and for sending your children to CHMH. We have enjoyed getting to know all of you, and consider it a deep privilege to have guided your little ones this past year!
To Amber (Ella's Mom) for being such an AMAZING class mother. Her patience and tolerance with our never ending tasks was amazing, and our requests were always met with her beautiful smile! Her information emails were clear and always delightfully delivered!
To Carol (Phoebe's mom), for being such a tireless supporter of our library, keeping it refreshed and stimulating for the voracious CHMH students! The library is a hub of the school and serves as the children's “coffee shop minus the coffee!”
To all of you for the bountiful beautiful bouquets of flowers, the scrumptious snacks and for driving on field trips. Your efforts enriched the program and filled hungry tummies!
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